A Dragon at Heart
by RunRunRunAway
Summary: Dragon was just a boy with a dream. But when dreams are crushed, people are crushed. When people are crushed... OTHER people die.
1. Chapter 1

I held my staff to my chest as bullets fired at my surroundings. I was huddled in a ball, my knees curled up to my chest, helping me hold onto my staff as hard as I could. Some survivors and I were behind an old, wooden shelter, trying not to die, or at least die in one bullet hit. I counted heads. Ten, not including me.

"Is everyone okay?" I yelled. They all looked around and then nodded.

Waiting for the signal to go was always tiring.

Right on queue, an archer flew over the shelter. She landed neatly in front of us before stumbling to the floor a second later, gripping her shoulder.

"It's safe to go!" she yelled as loud as she could. I nodded, but before leaving I ran over to her.

"Ranking?" I asked her, holding her shoulder for her to momentarily stop the bleeding.

"Seventy Six." she answered. I nodded and quickly touched the end of my staff to her bleeding shoulder. In a flash of green light, all that showed she had been even damaged was the rip and blood on her cloths.

"Cleric?" she asked.

"Bishop." I corrected her and added, "Ranking one seventy nine."

She blinked before nodding. She thought a little before adding, "Get them back alive, okay?"

I quickly nodded and saluted her before signaling the beginners to follow me. They all listened. I had thought that out of the corner of my eye I saw her salute back. Odd... normally the helper classes salute to the fighter classes. Maybe she's new to Victoria...

But then again, I was the youngest one in this war. They normally don't let you go out until your eighteen, and I am _not _eighteen, that is obvious. I'm fourteen, though my small structure made me look like a twelve year old. No one would guess I was over the thirtieth rank, let alone over the one hundred seventy fifth. She might have been saluting me out of sheer pride that someone of such dedication as myself would be fighting alongside beside her on the battlefield.

_Dedication._.. I thought to myself, _How funny. I don't want to be here. I'm here because I have to be here. _

The bowman quickly leaping back over the wooden wall snapped me back from my mind. I hastily went to the edge of the old wooden shelter to take a look and see if everything was clear enough to go, knowing that even though it was supposedly clear a second ago didn't mean it was clear now. I almost instantly jerked my head back and heard the wheeze of a piece of metal pass by my face, inches away. Whether it was part of a metal monster or a stray bullet I didn't know, but I'm glad I cheeked to see if it was safe because it was clearly NOT safe at the moment.

_Why do you care if it's safe? _My brain asked me, _You really don't care about these people, the one's you're leading. You could just let them all die, and get out alive. __**You**__ can leave Victoria. __**You**__ can survive._

I silenced my brain. I knew what I had to do, and I didn't need it telling me that this wasn't it. I knew I needed that book. That one book of Grandles. But I needed his trust first, and that would take a lot of work.

_It's been years since you stole the last books. _My brain reminded me, _it's been years since you started saving lives here on Victoria. It won't be long until he announces that he trusts you again. You know it._

I smiled. I did know it, but until I was sure I had the old mans trust, I would make sure that at least half of these dumb asses got through alive.

"Okay, this is what we're going to do!" I yelled at the beginners, "We're going to make a run for it! I'll heal you if you get hurt, but just try not to die in one hit!" I yelled at them. They all nodded, but you could tell they were nervous. A girl with her hair up in two scrunchies started to cry. I really didn't have to much time to waste cheering them up. As if I cared.

"You guys ready?" I asked. They sure as hell didn't look ready, but they all nodded anyway. That'd have to do. "Run!" I shouted, and they all made a dash for it, me behind so I could quickly tend to their wounds if they got shot. More like when they got shot. Most don't get back without me having to heal their wounds. There's just to many stray bullets around here.

Yelling and screaming and gunshot was, all in all, the only thing heard for miles. We'll have to run for half a mile to get to the final shelter, and some of the beginners would go deaf, and maybe some would die, but that's just the cruel way things work out around here. But, a long time ago, it wasn't like this.

A long time ago, people would be able to train here, on Victoria Island, be able to get levels up just to brag to their friends, or just cause they wanted to, or maybe to make their parents proud. Some people wanted to be the best, so they aimed for that, but most people knew that this was a dream that could never be reached, so they stuck to themselves and their friends, not trying to get fame with their muscles or magic, but trying to make it a game by being the best in a small group.

Some with the dream of becoming a hero reached their goal. Some did not. But the only difference from back then and now is that they had a _choice. _Something the people from Victoria Island never had in the past hundred years or so. We fight to live. We hunt to eat. We get up in ranks to reach the top. And when we reach the top, we end this cold blooded _war_ faster, and then we rest in _peace _or _pieces, _depending on how you went down. Most of the time it's not a very peaceful death unless you die in your sleep. But even in that, there's gunshots. Because, as people say, the night before you die here, you dream of getting shot in the heart. And then you never wake up. Simple as that. And do I believe it? No. And I don't care, because I won't be dieing anytime soon.

Breaking me out of my own mind, the youngest and slowest beginner fell to the floor. A bullet hadn't hit this one, a piece of flying metal had. Wherever it had come from or what it was didn't really seem to matter at the moment, though, because that beginner was out like a rock. I quickly healed him, and like what happened to the archer, a flash of green light made the ugly, long cut going over this ones right eye turn into a large, thick-corded scar on his face. He didn't wake up, though.

I didn't worry about it. I've had cases like his where they don't wake up after being healed. It's not abnormal-

I sensed something hurling towards my face all of a sudden. I did a back flip, the young one quickly gathered into my arms, and whatever it was whizzed under my feet mid flip. I had no time to think before I heard a blood chilling yell up ahead, and I turned to see the girl who was crying earlier.

I teleported and I was at her side in a second, quickly using heal. She had been shot in the chest, which was a lot more severe then being hit with a piece of metal across the face. She didn't wake up. It's very possible that the impact gave her such a shock that her heart died out. I cheeked for breathing. None. I cheeked for a heartbeat. None. My eyes opened, and I gently picked her up in my arms. She was dead. Good for her, her life would have sucked anyway.

I looked up ahead only to see that the others were waiting for me to start running again. My eyes narrowed as I saw the last shelter, much newer and larger than the last, not to far away from them.

"Keep going, don't wait for me! That could cost you your life! The next shelter's up ahead, now go!" I yelled as loud as I could to them. They all started running, some giving a few back glances, but nothing otherwise. They would make good warriors when they grew up, maybe a few okay archers. I didn't see a magician or a rouge in any of them, though.

Getting out of my own mind, I stood up, switching the boy to a single arm and picking up the girl as I went. My staff was still in my right hand, the same one the girl was in, and I lightly tapped in on the ground.

"Genesis." I said. I felt my mana power leave my body and soar to the sky. The blue mana turned to a piercing light, and around it a small cloud appeared. In one blindingly fast moment, a huge pillar of light struck the ground and left one deep, narrow crater. I hopped in and gently lowered the girl onto the floor of the deep hole, and then said a few words for her short (and in my opinion, useless) life. I then jumped out of the hole and gathered a holly arrow in my hand. I let it go, and the powerful glowing arrow hit the rim of the hole and knocked most of the edge inwards. I did the same with the other side, and then the other, and then the other. When the hole was filled I got up and walked away. I didn't make her a grave stone: no that's to much time. I had to get back as soon as possible so that Grandle would be pleased.

Then I remembered the others. I looked over, grateful to count eight heads over there waiting for me. I was over there before there before anyone could blink when I teleported.

I gently lowered the knocked out one to the floor and cheeked his pulse, which was fine, cheeked his breathing, which was slightly uneven. That was about all I could do without the proper items to make a legendary potion that healed anyone completely, so instead I healed his whole body again to make sure there was no torn muscles that his body would have to work hard to fix.

"Did anyone else get hit?" I asked

One boy took the time to make sure everyone was okay, asking them each and making sure. "Everyone is okay, but the black haired one is having a hard time hearing." he answered. I saw a little bit of a cleric in him. Only the four masters would be able to tell for sure, though.

I clenched my teeth, and smirked. He was just like me...

"Good." I said, turning towards the wall, "Now let's get out of here."

Keeping my staff in one hand, I outstretched my arms toward the wooden wall as if about to hug it. I released some mana power, directing it towards the wall, and then the wood split open, splinters and nails flying everywhere. As the wood continued to spread, a beautiful blue vortex began to come into view. The varying colors of dark, light, navy and so many more blues made an astonishing effect that, no matter how many times I opened this portal, left me momentarily breathless. I stared at its perfectness for a moment. Grandle had made the portal, and it came as no surprise. Only a master could create something of the swirling blue pools stature.

My hands dropped to my sides as I turned around to the beginners. While I spoke I went over and picked up the passed out beginner. "We can enter now, but be careful. If you take the wrong step, then you fall in."

The black haired one was the only one who didn't blink or flinch back, I noticed. He's brave... just like me... so much like me...

"How will we know if we're going the right way?" the only surviving girl of the group asked.

"You should be able to feel it." the black haired boy answered before me, "You should be able to tell which step is wrong and which is right." he looked at me, "Right?"

I faked a smiled at him. "Correct. Keep your mind on the other side. Don't lose concentration." I added. He's to much like me...

It wasn't strange to see a kid who knew all this stuff by instinct. It just meant that he was meant to be a magician, as I had predicted he would be earlier. This only proved that I was right. Which meant I _had_ to kill him.

I've been killing all the Beginners who showed even the smallest of magician traits. And I see, not only a magician in this one, but a master. If I killed him early, then it would save me trouble later, when I tried to kill the old man. If he was a magician, he might try to defend him... no, no, that can't be happening. I might actually die then.

"I'll go first." I said. "If I fall in, keep going okay? Do not wait for me." I knew that the chances of me falling in were... zero. I was positive I wasn't going to fall in on my own, but there might be something else that would push me in: some invisible force that broke through into the passageway of the portal and decided not to leave, determined to end the life of anything passing by. These things exist and if any were to find their way into Grandles' portal and if I fell in, I wouldn't want the beginners waiting around for me to come back up. I'd want them through that portal ASAP so that I would get at least _some _of them through.

I took my first steps, and they left me engulfed by the brilliant blues of the portal. I signaled behind me for the beginners to follow, and the black haired one headed in next closing his eyes and letting his mind tell him what was right and what was wrong. I turned the other way and kept moving forwards.

_He's right behind you._ My mind reminded me, _kill him here before you get through the other end! You can push him, he'll lose his balance, and take the wrong step! And when you take the wrong step in a portal, you fall into nothing! It's perfect. No one will know it was you._

Well, people would have their suspicions about me. They normally don't fall in on their own...

_Go after him. _It offered, _Make it seem like you wanted him to live. Then kill him while your down there and teleport back up._

I smiled, listening to that evil part of my brain. I releaseda rather large amount of mana out of my back, and then I heard the beautiful sound:

"Aw- _AHHH_!" I turned quickly, pretending to be alarmed, just in time to see the boy with the black hair go tumbling off the edge of nothing. I watched with my eyes wide in fake horror as the boy fell. Everyone else trembled as they watched the boy go flying. I didn't waste anymore time after that. Got to make it at least _look _like I care about his life.

"I should have double cheeked- what was I thinking? Everyone, keep going, I'll get him!" I said, and without thinking I handed the knocked out one to a beginner. "At the end of the portal there should be a girl. Tell her I went to go save one of the kids and I'll be back. Okay?"

He nodded, "I'll tell her. Should we wait for you?" he asked.

"She'll make you wait anyway. I'll see you later, okay? Right now... I don't know how deep he is." I lied to shut him up, "I've got to go."

He nodded. "Good luck." he hastily added before I was over the edge of the invisible path that would have otherwise lead me to safety.

I dove headfirst into the nothingness that awaited me below. I didn't fear what was down there, I had been down there plenty of times before, but it always creeped me out- that atmosphere... it seemed like time and space bended there, and it felt like, at any moment, the entire place would collapse on you and leave no trace that you had even existed in the first place.

I smiled, though, liking the challenge. It only gets harder and harder every time you're down there. The monster never rests, the time never stops, sometimes it slows or speeds up, but never stops. It's disorienting, but every time I make it through, I get stronger. And I plan to make it through every time.

Just then I caught sight of a small black dot.

I teleported and was suddenly at the dot, which, as I had guessed, was the beginner who had fallen. I grabbed his shoulders so that he somehow didn't float away from me.

"Are you okay?" I asked. He didn't answer, and I think I know why. He looked green, and by my guess he had motion sickness. "Don't worry! I'll get you out of here." I reassured him, even though I knew that wouldn't do much _and_ that it was a lie.

I teleported again and then was at the bottom of the vortex. It otherwise would have taken me hours to fall to the floor. I'm glad that the beginner was to sick to notice that I could have just teleported the the invisible path.

What was down there looked nothing like the beautiful design of blue as it did farther up. The sky was black with small spots of light- almost like stars. The floor was pink, and it stretched on and on and on. There was nothing... but I knew there was something.

"Genesis!" I called out and pillars of light struck down. One, as I had expected, made something invisible wail. The floor began to shake and I gripped onto the beginners' shoulders out of reflex.

I'd know that rumbling anywhere. That's the rumbling of TIME.

Had to defeat the beast before you rescued anyone right? Well I guess in this situation I really wasn't rescuing anyone... but that's what everyone thought...

Slowly colors began to swirl and create a tie-dye effect. Purples turned to blacks, reds turned to browns, blues turned to purple, green turned to red, and brown turned to black. If you take the time, you'll find out that all those colors end in black. I watched as the swirl continued until there was an ugly shadow of darkness standing in front of me, on all fours with claws sticking out and horns pierced out of its head. Its eyes glowed a deep dark red- the only color on the thing at all- that had a mischievous form to them that gave me chills. It reminded my of a bull without hoofs, but thirty times bigger and fifty thousand times more deadly.

But I knew its weakness. I knew that TIME was blind and deaf. You wouldn't think so from the oh-so-red eyes and the oh-so-large ears, but they're there to trick you. They're to make you think that there's no hope. But I know that there's always hope. Grandle taught me that himself. The stupid old man.

I heard its breath, and I tried to stay still. I knew that it's attack was beyond what the legendary monster, Horntail, could create, but it's horrible defense and the fact that it's health is much much smaller than a monster like itself should have makes it a very easy thing to kill. It wasn't the toughest monster. But if it had a few more days, I would be in trouble.

TIME THE MONSTER:

You see, TIME is a monster that is made from the trapped time inside of portals. Every time a magician teleports, they make a portal around themselves using _only mana_, and as that portal closes you are forced out of another portal that matches your specific mana, or the same mana the portal you entered was made out of. It won't make you go through a portal that isn't your own. But while you're in a _small_ portal, Time won't pass on the outside world: only inside of the portal, but because everything freezes and it's so fast, it really causes no damage to anyone in the outside world. Nobody notices. That's why teleporting is so useful and effective.

But portals that are made to last a long time are extremely large, and as time passes, it traps the time inside of it. The larger portals have to sustain themselves withboth_ time_,and _mana_, Unlike their little brother portals that are used to teleport with only mana. It needs time because time helps it harvest the true power out of mana. Without this harvest of power, there really wouldn't be enough power for the huge thing to sustain itself, and it would crumble inwards. So now that we have the basics of different size portals and what they need to work properly down, I can tell you how TIME monsters are formed.

TIME monsters are formed out of time, and because smaller sized portals don't use time, there's no possible way for a TIME monster to form in one of them. In larger portals, however, there's a huge quantity of time used, and no matter what, that large portal will continue to suck in time. But the portal only needs so much time to harvest the true power of the mana. Once it has harvested that power though, and there's no more mana to get the full power _out _of, the portal will still suck in time, but have nothing to use it for. This means the time sits there, and sinks to the bottom of the large portal, and continues to gather and gather.

At first it it not a living creature. It isn't until you disturb the time that it forms into the big creature known as TIME. The thing turns black because of the time it's made out of turning old. Its eyes glow because it drains mana from the portal.

But, of course, when the time piles up at the bottom of the portal, it would eventually disturb itself, anyway: you wouldn't really _need_ anyone to disturb it. The weight of the time on top would stir the time on bottom, and then the stirring of the bottom stirs the top, and then what do you know? You've got a heaping mound of disturbed time, and then it turns to TIME. And like all monsters, TIME has a goal. To destroy every person it can. And it can do that by getting out of the portal, and it can do _that_ by gathering more and more time, and becoming big enough to tear the portal apart and then escape, effectively leaving no trace of the portal and becoming one of the most feared monsters there is.

And that's all I know on the monster. It itself has one of the three ways to destroy a portal- tear it apart using time itself, have the portal run out of mana, or have the portal collapse inward from lack of time. I've never met one of the TIME monsters outside of a portal though... Grandle told me it was because they don't last vary long. Time is a vary unstable and bendable thing, and as the monster lives, it uses up its own time. Eventually the monster begins to shrink and shrink until it is nothing. But at full size and out of a portal, it is deadly.

And once it is out of the portal most people call the thing PAST, because the time it runs off of is from the past.

NOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT TIME IS, BACK TO THE STORY!

One wrong move and you could die. If it hit you hard enough, you could be instantly gone.

I silently reached into my pocket. I pulled out a potion I always kept with me. Once the glass broke it would make a cloud of smoke big enough to cover a city. It was normally used so that others can't see... but the thing also had a very strong smell. If I used it, that thing would be basically screwed- not able to see, hear or smell me.

The thing was moving, slowly, sniffing the air, moving closer to me... a little closer.. just a bit more...

_NOW_! My thoughts boomed at me as I threw the potion on the floor. The smoke exploded outwards, and when TIME caught a whiff of the stuff, it threw its head up in rage, and charged forwards.

Grabbing the new one with the black hair (who by now had passed out from fright) I threw him in the air quickly. I barely had enough time to jump over the stupid beast.

I landed on my feat like a cat. A _big _cat. That was a... a very _large_ jump for a bishop to pull off. The passed out beginner fell back into my arms, conveniently. I heard the thing behind me sniffing like crazy, trying to pick up my sent. When it failed at doing that, it quickly rammed at nothing, hoping to hit me, obviously.

"Genesis!" I called out, and a large pillar of light struck the beast in the back. It screamed as the pillar pushed it to the floor. I used Genesis again, receiving another pained scream out of the beast. With one more blow the beast was left on its knees. I had done about half the dose I needed to kill it, but... it looked dead.

That realization hit me quick: the thing had stopped moving. Now I wasn't about to fall for a play-dead trick, so I observed it for a little while. It wouldn't be getting up for about thirty seconds, so it would be safe.

Ten second passed and the thing didn't move. **Now what is it playing at? **I wondered to myself, but then, right then, it hit me. The smoke was clearing! It was waiting until it could smell. It's smarter than I had thought.

"Shinning Ray!" I said, needing to kill it before smoke clears. I began to use my mana to destroy that monster from the inside out.

"Genesis!"

"Magic claw!"

"Angel Ray!"

"Holly Arrow!"

The beast was screaming loudly and trying to get up, undoubtedly using it's last little particles of energy, for it succeeded. That's when I realized that I should have just used Genesis as an attack. That attack comes down from the sky... but Angel Ray and Holly Arrow and so on... give the beast a clear idea of where the attack is coming from.

Before another thought was able to course through my mind the monster began to charge at me, trying to kill me, trying to make me die a very horrible death. I jumped as I did last time, but something happened that I wasn't expecting. The beast jumped, too.

Time momentarily froze for me, and no, not the actually monster. Thoughts raced through my mind: _The boy... you're going to kill him anyway... use him as a shield... _

Time sped back up, and when the thing was a foot away I swung the beginner in front of me. I crashed into the thing, which ended in me getting tossed so far away from it that I changed my entire perspective on the monster. I had thought it could take you out in one hit... this thing was almost dead and almost took me out in one hit...

Almost...

I was fading in and out of consciousness. My staff had been knocked out of my own hands. I weakly crawled over to where I saw it in the dim glow that the small lights in the sky offered. It must have took me five minutes to get the thing: it was so far away. Being a Bishop and skilled at healing I was able to tell that I had ripped a few muscles in my left side, dislocated my left arm, and broke my left leg, too. I had, obviously, landed on my left side. But I felt no injury from the actual impact at all.

I grabbed the staff, amazingly in the same condition, and pressed the end to my left forearms joint.

I used up basically the last of my mana and healed myself. In a flash of green light, I was able to move my arm again. I pressed it to my leg and healed. Amazingly, I was able to get up, though it wasn't entirely better. I still felt like I was going to collapse because of the torn muscle, but I couldn't get every little tear. Where was the beginner...?

I looked around for his black hair. Soon enough, I found him.

I teleported, using some of the remaining mp I had to get over to him. He was dead. Oh well... at least he died in his sleep.

I looked up. With my remaining mana power... I should be able to get out...

I teleported up the large vortex and onto the invisible floor that lead to the the other side. I felt completely drained of energy, and when I arrived on the other side the first thing that greeted me was someone leading me to a hospital room. All I heard out of them was:

"Is he okay?" I don't know what that is...

"...Fine. There's no need to worry... Ripped muscle and exhaustion... Needs and rest... Nothing more..." I didn't recognize that voice, and I was fading in and out of consciousness. I all of a sudden, figured that I didn't care who was talking. I needed sleep... and that's what I would get...

A/n- Yea, I'm just going to upload one chapter every few days, and instead of having one million chapters with 1000 words each, I'll have a five thousand word long chapter (or something like that). This story isn't going to be as long as I had hoped it would be. I have another, like, eighteen thousand words typed for this story. The next chapter will probably only be 4000 words long. I've still got other stories to write... (Btw, if you were smart enough to read the a/n, I'll tell you that the main characters name is Dragon, if you haven't guessed already.) Also, thanks for my reviewers, pointing out my mistakes! I had written: 'Me and some survivors', and now, it's been changes to 'Some survivors and I'. Thank you for correcting me!


	2. Chapter 2

"Grandle!" I called out, "Where are you!"

"I'm up here, young one." the old voice rang out, seeming strangled with age, yet strong with knowledge. I smiled as I climbed up boxes and ladders until I was at the level of the large house where Grandle sat. he was reading a book, but that was no surprise. He was always reading or writing or something like that.

"Grandle, I was just approved a high enough ranking to become a cleric!" I exclaimed, jumping around, my nature of always having to move coming out while I was excited.

"Really?" he asked, "A nine year old with a ranking that a normal twenty year old could get to? Outstanding."

I smiled, and jumped around more. I was glad that there was no task to complete, as there was in the old days. Once you reached the rank, you could become anything you wanted to become. They had changed that ever since the war, when they needed all the soldiers they could and couldn't risk a high percent chance of losing people in that task.

"So I can go to the next level as a magician?" I asked, "I'll be above the fifteen year old people, and stuff like that?"

Grandle frowned for a second, and then walked over to me. "This must be very exciting to you, but do keep aware what this means to your life." he said.

Now it was my turn to frown. "Grandle, what do you mean?"

"Listen and listen well, the choice you make now will change your destiny forever. I don't think that it is fair to ask so much of such a young boy, so I'm offering you a way out." he began to speak slowly, trying to put emphasis on what he was saying, "I'm going to let you walk away from this path. I'm going to ask you nicely to leave this path and to never return. To go out and find a better destiny than the one you have set in front of you now."

I blinked. He... _wants_ me to leave? Did I hear right? But what about all my work?

"Why, Grandle..." I said, "Is there... is there some specific reason as to why I should leave?"

"There is." he said, "But right now, I don't think you are old enough to understand why."

I got a little frustrated. I may be young, but he's always taught me not to let age get to me. And now he's telling me that I'm to young to understand? How's that fair to me, how's that fair to all the work I put into this? He's telling me to leave and never come back for goodness sakes! What's that all about! This isn't the Grandle that first put me on this path, because he wouldn't be pushing me away from it if it was!

"Grandle, I don't want to leave!" I told him, "I want to stay, I want to learn! I don't know what's lead you to make this decision, but I'm going to ignore it! I will become a cleric."

"Listen," he said, "These kind of jobs are no longer safe for a person of your age, or for a person with your personality. I do not wish for you take this path. We will speak of this no more."

I felt a strange sensation flow through my body... no doubt the feeling of being teleported.

"Wait, Grandle, please!"

But it was to late for that. I was at my mothers house in an instant, far away from Elenia, in fact, on the other side of Victoria Island. In Kerning city.

I was crushed. Sent away from what I wanted to do with as little as nothing. But that wasn't enough for me, no, I needed to become a cleric. So on my tenth birthday, two moths from that indecent, I traveled three weeks to Elenia, and stole a mastery book from Grandles house when he was with the other masters. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted it so bad. And I got what I wanted, I got to be a cleric, and Grandle never knew I was progressing, he would have stopped me if he did. He never found out about the book disappearing, and when I had just turned eleven, I went back, and stole another book, returning my old one. This time, Grandle found out.

I looked up at the house that was in the trees, so high that it would have killed a person who was afraid of heights just by looking at it. I teleported to the top in one blindingly fast movement, the portal not being exactly on the floor, which lead me to land neatly on the roof from a twenty foot fall. Perfect. I looked to my sides quickly to make sure I wasn't being watched before I pressed my hands onto the roof, expelling some mana through the old wood. I felt my mana squeeze through the cracks, and then settle through the wide space that was Grandles house. My mana wasn't stirring at all, which meant there was no one moving in there. I smiled. No one's home.

People are attached to their mana. Using it, you can feel things around you even though you're not there. When Grandle found out his tricks he wrote them down in his little mastery books. When I found out my tricks and wrote them down in my head. That way no one can steal them, like I did to him.

I leaped down off the roof and landed on a branch near to the door. I jumped onto the little plank of wood that extended off the bottom of the door, and quickly ran inside before anyone could see me. No doubt they'd tell Grandle if they saw. Don't want that.

I smirked. You'd think this would be hard. He doesn't protect his house enough.

I looked around, taking in the familiar setting. It still had the same boxes and ladders that lead to different floors which lead to different books. Everything looked the same, but Grandle wasn't in his chair. Good...

I leaped up a few floors. All the books were alphabetized, so all I had to do was find 'P'. There's L... M... N... O... Found it...

My smirk only grew on my face as I found the book labeled "Priest."

"It's just what I need..." I said, awestruck, grabbing the book from the shelf and then opening it, "I'm one step closer to becoming the greatest magician of all time..."

My eyes began to skim the text hand-written onto these pages. All the time it took me to memorize the last book and to preform ever spell perfectly... and now I could learn new spells the same way... become stronger than I was before...

"Well, you seem to be enjoying my lives' work." an old, damaged voice commented. My brain processed where the voice was coming from in a split second: the bottom left hand corner... that could only mean that someone was at the door from the first floor... someone had just come in, and by the sound of it, it was Grandle!

I flung myself around, book held protectively in my arms, looking with hate-filled eyes into those of the old man.

"Now, listen, I want you to-"

"Put the book down?" I asked with a loud, angry voice, "You want me to turn around and never come back? You want me to go and leave this place and forget my past, forget all of my work?"

His eye brows furrowed as he caught a clear glimpse of the book in my hands, "Hold on a second,"

"You hold on a second!" I told him, "You better learn that if you're going to live on Victoria with me on it, then you're going to let me take this book, and you will never tell another child to leave behind his dream again!"

He reached a hand towards me, "Wait, please listen, there's something I must tell you!"

"To late!" I said, "You should have told me a long time ago."

And then I gathered the rest of my mana and drained myself teleporting to Kerning city, leaving no trace of my being there except for the faint feel of the mana I had expelled earlier, and the missing book that never got returned to Grandle.

I went back and successfully stole the Bishops mastery book about a year later, but this time, I learned something that only Grandle and me know today.

It was nighttime when I got to Elenia. I took all the precautions that I had took the second time I broke in, and again, no one was home. What good luck if that wasn't, right?

I entered the old house, the floor creaking, but otherwise the place was silent. I looked at all the books, and quickly found 'B', with it being the second letter in the alphabet. I had burned the last Priest mastery book, so that no one could use it. It was MINE, I stole it, and burning it just made sure that no one else could use it.

I pulled out the Bishop mastery book. The front had a golden cloth cover on it, the cloth had the writing: Bishop- IV

This is what I've been waiting for. The last mastery book... after this, they will be no more advancements I could make... I could take down Grandle, or die trying. I would crush him like he had done to my dreams.

Before I had a chance to open the book I heard a small creak from behind me.

I spun around as fast as I could, but the only thing I saw was Grandles old rocking chair, one of the only windows in the place making it visible in the moonlight.

It continued to rock, as if controlled. Was Grandle...?

No, I would be able to sense him if he was here: my mana's still in this room, after all. But the rocking chair kept on rocking, and the wood underneath kept creaking.

It's not being controlled... It's trying to tell me something...

I noticed a charm on the undead on the arm rest. The lonely old man charmed it. How sad.

I walked up closer to the chair, and once I came within three feet of it, the rocking immediately ceased. Then I saw a book, sitting on the chair.

My eyes went wide, my back erected, my legs automatically took a step back in shear shock.

Eying me right in the face was a book titled, Patriarch- V

I ran up to it. Is this possible? A fifth advancement? But Grandle had never said anything about a fifth advancement.

_Of course he never told anyone! He wouldn't want anyone overthrowing him, correct? Well, with this book, you can! _My brain reminded me.

Yes, of course... but-

Suddenly, I heard the turn of the doorknob. Perfect timing. I teleported into the darkness, behind a bookshelf, and waited. I wanted to see what Grandle did in his spare time. Make more spells for himself, maybe...?

All you could hear in the darkness was his footsteps, slow, but never stopping. Eventually I heard him sit down in his rocking chair, probably having picked up that book, and he began to rock, the floor creaking as it did earlier. I looked intently through the shadows, and though I could make out the letter: V.

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Grandle was reading that fifth book. My eyes narrowed. That selfish asshole. Taking everything for himself.

"You've grown, my child." I heard him comment. A smirk slipped past me, but I quickly fixed it.

"You really think so?" I asked sarcastically, stepping out of the dark, no longer hidden by the bookshelves.

"Why of course." he said, "It's only natural for a boy to grow, anyway."

"I guess it is." I agreed, "But you know whats not natural? What's inhuman?"

"Hm?" he asked.

"Keeping skills from the public. Skills that they all deserve to know at least exist." I said. He froze at my words, and I smirked.

"So you've found out about the book, have you?" he asked. I nodded.

"You did a good job in hiding it old man. You left it right on your chair." I said. He looked down at the armrest or the old rocking chair.

"Did I now? How clumsy of me." he commented.

"Yea, quite." I agreed, "Now, how about you hand me that little book, and I'll be on my way."

He looked at the floor and sighed. "I'm sorry." he said, his tone sincere, "But I can not let you."

"And why is that?" I asked, my voice raising a little bit.

"You're too young to understand."

I stood there, thinking that I had heard wrong. Did he just say... no he didn't... he couldn't have.

"Do you realize how far I've come?" I asked him, "Do you know how much I worked to get to this point? I've worked harder than any of your students. No, I've worked harder than _all_ of your students combined! And now you're telling me, after all these years, that I'm still to young?" my eyes narrowed into shards of sharp glass, "Like you told me the first time?"

He didn't move his head up from that position. "You have been bad, disobeying me." he said. "And not yet been punished."

"Punished for carrying out my own dream?" I asked, "How's that fair?"

"It may not seem fair." he said, "But you stole my work to complete your dream. And that makes in unfair to me."

"So it's unfair to both of us, is that what you're saying?"

"More so on me." he said and stood. "Do you realize how long it took me to work out the power of a Priest? And then you go and just ruin my work?"

"Do you know how long it took me to train to rank thirty, and rank one twenty? And then you go and throw me away as if I was nothing!" I said. We were in similar situations, but even I could see that his was worse. Getting from level thirty to one twenty was probably easier than deciphering the mysteries of a Priest.

"I know that you know that it was worse on me." he said.

"Yea, so?" I asked.

He was still for a moment, but then he walked painfully slow in my direction. Step after step got louder as he got closer until he was finally right in front of me. And then he did something I wouldn't have though he'd do in a year.

"Do you want to know why I wanted you to quit so badly back then?" he asked.

I blinked. "What use would it do now?" I asked, "You should have told me back then-"

"But I think you're old enough now." he said. More with the age thing...

"Sure, why not, Grandel?" I spat, rudely. He ignored my tone and spoke.

"You know about the war going on in Sleepy Wood, correct?" I nodded, and he went on, "Well, then, there was a great chance of the war spreading to Elenia. If that happened, then you would have been in great danger. I was trying to get all of the magicians away. I had managed to get you out late: but still, just in time. The very next day we were attacked by the assassins for out land, and perhaps, some magical skills." he said.

I didn't care. "Go on."

"A lot of magicians died, but we drove them out. The only thing that I think you should know is... I was in a situation where it was me and your father." he paused, looking at my reaction. My face didn't change so he went on, "A... certain magician... gave us the choice of one dieing... the other being set free."

"And?" I asked when he stopped. Wait a second... if it was _one _of them living... and he's here... "You chose my dad." I realized.

"It's not that simple, I can assure you-"

"Oh my god," I said, my head doing a little flip. I knew my dad was an assassin: I grew up in kerning city, so he _should_ be an assassin... but... dead? "My dad's dead because of you..." I said.

"Wait, please let me-"

"No!" I said, "You are so unfair! He's dead? You just lay that out to me? You're cruel, stupid, and hateful!" I said, launching a holly arrow at him, which he carefully and surprisingly gracefully dodged.

"You will let me speak!" he said, slamming the end of his cane of the ground. All of a sudden, my body wouldn't obey me: I was frozen still.

"A while ago, me and your dad were ushering people out of Elenia, helping the children first." he began to explain.

I didn't care. Oh my god, let me out of here!

I expelled an explosive amount of mana out of my skin, and it broke the shield Grandle was using to keep me still. I launched another holly arrow that hit him and sent him flying across the room.

"That's it!" he said, freezing me again in a much, much stronger shield. "If you want to become a soldier in war, then fine! You can keep that mastery book and learn from it, but from now on, you will be doing what you would have otherwise been sent to do when you were nine!"

I would have widened my eyes if I wasn't frozen.

"To rescue the beginners! One of the islands most dangerous jobs."

My eyes slowly slid open and then fluttered slightly when bright light attacked them. I raised my hand in front of my face for a moment so that my eyes could dilate. It wasn't until I heard the voice that I realized where I was.

"Oh, no, he's awake!" a male exclaimed, "You said yourself that he wouldn't wake for at least another five hours!"

"Well, I'm sorry! I didn't think he _would _wake up!" another male voice said.

I was in a circle of green light. Two people, who must have been clerics, were using heal continually on themselves, but I knew that they must have been circling their heal around me mainly because I could feel my muscles mend. It was a bit painful, but also a bit relieving, as if you were stretching after taking a very long nap, but there was more of that burn feeling.

They stopped because I was waking up. I knew they could continue to heal me when I was awake, but that burn feeling would eventually become unbearable. This is because when a cleric heals someone, they focus mana into rearranging the particles in a persons body. Depending on how much damage the person has suffered, they might need their particles rearranged more, and therefore, heal might need to be used more than once. Because the feeling of heat is cause by particles moving about rapidly, being healed to much will make you feel extremely overheated. If you were asleep, you wouldn't feel anything at all.

"How bad's the damage?" I asked them. They both looked at each other before answering.

"We're surprised you're alive." The one on the right answered, "You had a poorly mended leg, arm, and some ribs broken. You almost suffered brain damage, along with a fractured skull." he eyed me carefully before asking, "What on earth did you do that put you in such bad condition?"

I smiled and put my head back down, closing my eyes. "One of the new kids fell when he was crossing the path of the portal. I went to go get him."

There was a slight pause before realization of what had happened set in. "You shouldn't have done that." the other said, "You could have died-"

"Well, I didn't." I interrupted him, my eyes flinging open and showing a horrible expression of anger in them, "Did you ever think of that?"

Again, they paused. "Well?" I asked, raising my voice. _"Well?"_

"Please, lower your voice!" the right one said. My eyes must have grown fierce for he cringed back. I turned my head, avoiding his hurt stare.

"I wish I could leave this whole place and just go where there's no fighting." so I could take it over easily...

"Don't speak those words." the one on the left scolded me, "They're foolish! The only world you will ever be living in is this world. We need you here, we need someone to go get those kids-"

"No." I said simply, "You're wrong."

He stared at me for what seemed to be an eternity. "And what do you think-"

"I think that you _don't_ need me. Not at all. _You_ could go through your daily life, doing whatever, without me. Am I wrong?" I asked him.

"Well... no... I guess you're not wrong, _I _don't need you in my life. But it could interfere with other lives. Like the person who has to take your job. You'd be messing with his and your own destiny!"

My eyes flung so wide with surprise that he had said that to me. Did... did he, that _cleric, _the lower class, the simple, small, less experienced magician, just tell _me _about destiny?

My eyes narrowed. These people were just getting me into a bad mood. "You." I said, putting emphasis on every word, "Know _nothing._" I attempted to get into a kneeling position, seceding when I ignored the pain shooting up my spine, "About _**destiny.**_"

His eye brows furrowed. "And you, a fourteen year old, are suggesting you know more?"

It was true, he was older than me, probably by a few years. But I knew more. The things I've seen wouldn't compare to what he's seen. Imagine seeing a person who just came into this world, savagely get her head cut off, and then finding yourself unable to care. Or a boy, inexperienced, get hit with a stray bullet from his own side, and having to try to force yourself to feel sad. Or have sent a beginner boy into nothingness to get killed, and then found yourself feeling no sadness at all. That hopeless, lost face as he fell into the unknown. I know that's not destiny, that they didn't die because they were supposed to. I know they died because this world was to dam shitty to keep them alive.

"We shape our own destinies. Some people take the path of goodness and virtue. Others take the path of selfishness and hate. Help others find the right path, lest you find yourself on the wrong one." I said, ignoring any facial expression that may have crossed his face, "Find your own destiny, first, because the chances are there are some people out there waiting for you to do it."

The cleric made no move to stop me when I got up, still in pain but dealing with it, and headed for the door.

He most likely though that I was on the path of goodness... oh how wrong he was...

"Oh and I got a message to tell you," the one on the right said. At first I wasn't interested, I get messages all the time. But then... "It's from Grandle."

My eyes went wide. A message from him? "What is it?" I asked

"He says he just wanted you to know he trusts you. And that maybe you can have your job switched."

My jaw dropped. I was glad I wasn't facing those two, or that would have been bad. That way they couldn't see the evil grin spreading across my face, and they couldn't see my eyes shine with a hateful look.

"Genesis." I said, and with a wave of my hand, all that remained of the two clerics after a blood chilling scream was a pile of red liquid.

A/n- Just as I had predicted, only four thousand words long. Oh, well, you guys can live with it, right? Well, I'll upload soon enough! Review and point out my suckish mistakes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Grandles point of view from the day of the attack.**

I should have seen this one coming.

I knew that there was a war going on in Sleepy Wood between the Assassins and the Archers, but I wouldn't have imagined that the Assassins would want to take us out so soon. Sadly, I was wrong, they did want to take us out so soon, and by the time I found out they were invading we were bound to lose. The best thing we could do was retreat...

I teleported to the West of Elenia, where all the Assassins were coming in, in a flash.

"Grandle!" I heard someone yell behind me. I turned as fast as my old body would let me.

"Asher?" I asked.

"Don't worry," the man said, "I'm on your side."

"But you're an assassin." I said.

"But my son is a magician." he told me. Ah, yes. This is the boys father. I had forgotten.

"Oh, yes. I remember."

"Well, we have time to remember things later. For now, I think we should get the kids out of here."

"I agree." I said. "But first..."

I turned to where all the Assassins were entering into Elenia. I shouldn't use this attack around other magicians... but right now, lives are in danger.

I focused as much mana into my hands as I could manage, and began to release it, the air becoming foggy with a large amount of mana power.

I closed my eyes and began to concentrate all that mana into a thick, compacted shield. I could feel all the mana around me rush into one space, spreading out as far as I could see. Once I thought it was compacted enough, I stopped concentrating and opened my eyes. In front of me was a very visible blue wall. On the other side was assassins, hundreds of them, blocked from entering into Elenia.

"Okay, that's helpful." Asher said, "But now we gotta take care of the ones inside before they take care of us."

"Yes." I said.

Asher began to run into the thick woods of Elenia at a pace that my eyes had trouble following. I was, indeed, getting very old.

I teleported into the houses of Elenia, taking out the Assassins threatening the citizens with a flick of my wrist. They all couldn't have been over rank fifty. They were east enough for me to take out.

I had to hurry. I knew that the wall wasn't invincible. I was limited on time.

Sometime nearing the fiftieth house I ran into Asher again.

"Asher?" I asked, "What are you doing in here? I wouldn't have expected you to check the houses..."

I heard struggling coming from inside a closet.

"What...?" I asked.

"Seal." I heard Asher say. But... that didn't sound like Asher.

The man turned around, and like I had guessed, it was not Asher.

"The Black Magician." I heaved under my breath.

"Why hello, brother." He said. You could see the back of him beginning to turn into a black robe as the mana disguising him began to flow off.

"You tricked me." I stated smoothly.

"Why, yes." he said.

"Asher is in the closet, correct?"

"Why, yes, again." he answered, "Be my guest to take him out."

I nodded and walked over to the closet and opened one of the two doors that sealed the opening shut. Inside, indeed, was Asher, passed out on the floor.

"You knocked him out?" I asked.

"Yes." he answered simply.

My mouth shut into a tight line as I slowly bent over and place a hand on his shoulder. I focused my mana into a teleport that would bring us far away from my brother, but instead nothing happened. My mouth opened up a little.

"Can't use your magic?" he asked, "How sad."

I then remembered, when he was pretending to be Asher...

_ "Asher?" I asked, "What are you doing in here? I wouldn't have expected you to check the houses..."_

_ I heard struggling coming from inside a closet. _

_ "What...?" I asked._

_ "Seal." I heard Asher say. But... that didn't sound like Asher._

_ The man turned around, and like I had guessed, it was not Asher..._

"Ah." I said, realization dawning inside of me, "You sealed away my mana power."

"Yes." he answered.

"So what do you plan on doing to me?" I asked him.

"Oh, you'll decide that." he said to me.

"Excuse me?" I asked, wondering if I heard him correctly.

"One of you dies." he said, "You choose."

"So is this a sick game or does it have meaning?" I asked. I was curious as to what he was pulling. Only one of us? Why isn't he just killing us both?

"Grandle..." I heard Asher whisper on the floor, "He inflicted a lot of damage on me... I think I'm poisoned..." he said. I understood immediately.

"You want to go instead of me?" I asked. He nodded weakly in response.

"Black Magician." I said. He nodded his head.

"Your decision is made?" he asked.

"Yes." I answered. The magician smiled, and I turned from his eyes when I saw light out of the corner of my vision. Asher was glowing, his entire body lit with golden rays, purer than the sun. I watched for a few moments before the light exploded, in one fast moment, and Asher was gone. I see death on a daily basis, that's why I was able to go through this experience with so much as a second thought... but I had never seen _that _before.

"I'll let you go this time." the Dark Magician told me, "But there are only so many lives that you will sacrifice for your own."

At the end of that thought, he teleported in a flash of black magic. He was gone, but his message was still there, ringing in my head.

He's going to keep killing others until I take their place. But why does he want me dead... maybe he plans on taking over Elenia? That's the only reason I can muster up... Maybe he chose this way because it's the easiest: it could take out all of the four leaders...

I looked at the place Asher had disappeared from. His son was already so broken up inside... what would _this_ do to him?

**Same time, but the Dark Magicians' point of view.**

I would have Grandle dead soon enough. But I didn't put Grandle and Asher in that situation for no reason...

His son was the most talented boy I had ever seen: even more talented than me. That was troublesome, having someone who could become stronger than me in time. So I planned on making him mine. No need to let that raw talent and youth go to waste.

I had just left Grandle alone, and teleported to Kerning City: more specifically, to that little ball of talents' house. I would be leaving something there to... help him along my path.

Inside no one was home, which was good, that meant I didn't have to kill anyone. I slowly walked into the boys room: which was rather small, but his room, nonetheless. There was but a closet, a bed, and a bookshelf, which was loaded with tons of books. On the top of the bookshelf I placed an owl statue. The owls painted on eyes turned toward me and stared.

"What are you doing?" it asked.

"Leaving you here." I told it. "If you put the boy who lives here on the path to darkness, I'll give you your body back, limbs and all." I watched as its eye widened slightly, the dried pain spreading out.

"You will?" it asked.

"Yes. But if you fail, you will remain that statue forever. No makeups." I told it. It kept on staring at me.

"So you want this boy as your new little servant?"

"I want this boy as my new apprentice." I said, "And you're going to help me if you ever want to live again."

It paused, thinking about my offer. "You've got a deal." it said.

"Good."

I then teleported out of my house. Making this war spread was not easy, but I was going to make it happen. And beside me would be the most powerful magician on this planet, otherwise me, of course.

**Finally back to the Present**

I began to walk down the hallway, closing the door to the two dead bodies behind me and headed to my room. There was something there that was needed before I continued with my plan.

I was at my room soon enough, it being only a few turns away. I opened the door to the mostly empty room that my life had been revolving around ever since Grandle had made me join the military. Every plan that crossed my mind, every thought that brought me closer to my goal had been made here. Once I had taken a step in, the door shut behind me. My head turned to look at the top of the old wooden bookshelf, the owl statue still siting there. Perfect...

Sighing, I walked up to the shelf and grabbed it.

"What's the rush?" it asked.

"My plans are falling into place." I told him, "The old man finally began to trust me. I'll be able to get into his room now, and when that happens I'm going to pretend to confirm that he trusts me. In reality, I'll just be waiting for someone to come in and tell Grandle about the bodies that they found lying in the hall or somewhere: the ones that, in the near future, will be pawns for my getting to the one hundred and eightieth rank, and once I've gotten there it will be easy to steal Grandles fifth book. I'll go with Grandle to cheek out the bodies, I'll say that I'm going to go get more help, then I'll take the book and leave this place and become the best magician who ever lived. Than I'll kill Grandle."

"You thought this threw more than I had imagined you would." it commented, "I knew you were keeping your plans to yourself, but... they're so... dark."

"You never thought it." I said, "But you were expecting it."

"Yes, I was. You've always been good at reading me." it said, "Is that another one of your special talents?"

"Anyone can do it if you look close enough."

"Well I'm lucky I can see at all."

I chuckled. "You haven't seemed to notice that I wasn't talking about-" I paused listening to something that my ears had faintly picked up. "Wait..."

Quickly slipping the owl into my pocket, I opened the door to see someone making a right turn onto another hallway. Someone had heard something they weren't supposed to. I teleported over to the end of the long hall only to see a girl, a Warrior by the looks of it, running away from me. Probably going to go tell someone...

With a wave of my staff she was quickly disposed of- and I left the corpse a bloody mess in the hall. I only needed to kill a few more people before the one hundred and eightieth rank would be mine.

Figuring I needed to kill some people and rank up before anyone found the body, I opened the door that was closest to me and counted the heads of the surprised people. Ten of them... that would be easy enough. I waved my staff and began to close the door to muffle the sounds of the peoples screams as my Genesis killed everyone in that room. I walked down to the next door and killed everyone in that room, too, the same way.

"Hey... did you hear a scream?" a voice from down some hallway asked.

"Yeah I did... it came from over here..." a different voice answered, followed by the sound of some heavy footsteps. That meant that they were possibly wearing metal shoes... Warriors, perhaps?

"Wait, dude, should we go tell someone, call for backup, maybe?" the one who had spoken first asked. Backup? That meant they were guards. No Warrior would ever even think of calling backup to help them out. They'd rather die.

"Don't be a sissy! Someone was probably just pulling a prank on someone..."

Use where their voices came from, I was able to find out which hallway they were in, and I silently slipped into the corner of the wall, right at the turning point of the hallways. A plan on how to use these guys to my advantage bounced around inside my head as I crouched down onto my knees, placing my hands on the ground.

These guards would take a left turn into this hallway, walking towards me: where they heard the scream come from. Before they turned left, I would expel some of my mana through my palms and direct it through the floor and onto the other side of the hallway, and by using it I could speed up the particles in the floor and cause it to explode in one blindingly fast movement. This would cause them to turn to the right instead of to the left so they could quickly investigate the explosion, leaving me unnoticed. In the time it takes them to come to some sort of conclusion as the what happened and turn around, I'll have already slipped into the hallway they came from, and into a hopefully empty room. If there's someone in there... I'll just have to use mana to rearrange the particles in their throats into some strange combination that left them unable the speak. Maybe form both of their vocal chords together. Quick, easy and effective. Whatever makes it so that they can't scream, I'm fine with.

"You know what, I'm calling backup. There's no way that the scream I heard was a prank scream. That was a 'I'm choking and dieing' kind of scream. I have a feeling..."

"You always have a feeling." the other interrupted him, "And you always are wrong. Don't worry about it."

They were close enough by then, about five feet from taking the turn. I pushed a rather large amount of mana through my palms and focused on directing it quickly through the floor, and out the other end of the hallway. I let the mana charge the floor, making it hot, and in a flash of white light there was nothing but smoke coming from that direction.

"What was that?" One asked, stepping to the right, but taking no further movement towards the smoke. _Wait... aren't you going to go cheek it out? _

He took a step forwards, and then another, his second friend trailing closely behind him. Not what I was expecting... but the smoke will clear soon, and then they'll find out it was nothing quickly. I have to get moving while they don't know... no matter how close they are...

I got up and began to slowly walk towards the hallway in which these people came. But then something happened.

My foot nudged a pebble.

Yes, out of all the ways for them to find out I was there, it was from the small 'click' of a pebble being overturned. They both flung themselves around a whipped out a gun.

"Hold still!" They both yelled. I froze. Dammit.

"Code red, we've got a murderer on our hands. Hall sixty seven. Requesting backup." The one that had been sure that no one was here said.

I needed a new plan. He was calling for backup, which meant I had more people to kill. I could run and lessen the chances of getting killed... but then again, I could stay here, kill these two people, wait for more people to come, kill them, and depending on how many people are there... I could rank up, and then go on with my plan. I liked the second plan one better.

"Okay." I said, putting my hands in the air, "You've got me. I kill quite a few people in this hallway."

The one who had been scared of going down here shoved his gun farther in my direction, fear written on his face, unlike the calm friend of his who stood nice and cool next to him, and asked, "Why? Why did you kill those people?"

"Oh, dear, you found me but a minute ago and now the interrogation starts. A tad bit early don't you think?" I asked mockingly. I had to make them angry... make them put their defenses down but trying to raise their attack. In the end, I would kill them.

"Why?" he asked, louder.

"Well, because it was fun." I said.

I watched as his back erected, his eyes widened, and his gun slightly lowered for a second. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You can clearly see that I'm young. I'm fourteen. I've seen enough death in my life to witness a fellow human get shot down and not give a second glance to them, not feel anything towards them, not even blink when they crumble down, everything for them ending." _I need to sound like a monster... someone who should die right here, right now... I need them both dead before the backup gets here. I'm running out of time._

"And eventually, I got used to seeing people die right in front of me. And then, after some time, I began to like it. I began to grow an affection towards the death of others. And then, after all of that, I began to crave it. I craved the death and suffering of all my surrounding friends. I wanted to see them scream, rolling on the floor in agony. And today, I got what I wanted."

I bowed, my speech over. It was all a lie, of course, there was only one person on Victoria who was quite _that _sick. But they seemed to be falling for it: the cool and collected ones face going red and the smaller boy trembling.

"You monster!" the smaller one yelled, charging towards me. Perfect.

I turned out of the way, and then right when he passed me by, I put a quick hand on his shoulder and then pulled away and faced the taller one. I didn't want to see the younger boys body just give out. It was the way my mother had died, and I never had to see it again.

I had put a very, _very_ small amount of mana into the boys shoulder, which traveled to his brain, and stopped all thought process, making the boy go brain dead. His heart stopped, no longer receiving the messages your brain would normally send your heart without your knowledge, and his digestive system would slow to a halt. He would shut down, painlessly.

"Leon!" the taller one shouted running over to his friends side, ignoring me momentarily. "Leon!"

"This 'Leon' is dead." I pointed out, looking straight at the man while he had a mental break down, "Stop calling his name."

"You monster!" he called out, holding up his gun. He fired.

I smiled at his action. Way to fall right into my trap.

Mana surrounded my body as I summoned Magic Armor. Magic Armor is a simple technique that's existed for... hundreds of years. You focus the mana around your body and continually add more, forcing it into the same place around until it compacts and hardens. It limits your movement at first, but as you practice you can layer the mana into strong sheets surrounding your body, as normal metal Warrior armor would wear, so that you can move more freely. But as you stop focusing on compressing the mana, it'll begin to flow away, making your shield weaker until it's nonexistent. In the time that the mana is compressed, it's sort of like plexiglass. Strong, but it will crack. As time goes by, it turns into regular glass. Weaker, and offers little protection. After that, it's like paper.

The bullet ricocheted off of the thick, blue shield, a large crack forming in the solid mana. I watched as the bullet hit the one who fired it in the neck, closer to the right, causing the body to fall to the floor. I stood and stared for a few seconds, making sure that there was no life left in either of them. They didn't move.

Well, it's safe to say that they're taken care of.

It didn't go exactly how I wanted it to go, but now all I have to do is wait for the backup. I'm so close to leveling...five guards should be enough. I'll let the rest live so that they can get the news spread to Grandle.

I walked down the hallway, and placed a mana bomb on the floor. That should take care of any guards who came around. Walking back, I hid in the hallway I wanted to hide in a while ago, but never ended up doing so as my plan failed. I opened the door to the nearest room and went in so that I wasn't in plain sight. Sighing, I took the owl out of my pocket.

"I heard your little speech back there." it said.

"Well I heard it, too, believe it or not." I said back.

"Your sarcasm hurts."

"Well so does yours."

It was silent after that for a while. I thought it was going to go on until I heard someone through my door, the guards, hopefully blowing up, that anyone made an action, but the owl decided otherwise.

"So." it asked, "What are you going to do after you get your book?"

I looked down at it. "What do you mean? I'm going to read it of course. Become stronger."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?" I asked again.

"You're just going to get stronger. But you still won't be the strongest."

I sighed, having already thought this threw. I had decided that I would need more than myself to take down the master. But I was interested with where this was going... "And what do you think I should do about this problem?"

The beak of the white fiberglass owl curved up into what could possibly be a smirk. "You'd do anything to kill the old man?"

"Yes."

"No matter how unspeakably evil it may be?"

"Depends on how many people end up dieing." I answered smoothly.

"No one." It said.

"You sure?"

"Maybe a few."

"I'm listening."

It chuckled, pleased that I was listening to what it had to say. "The Dark Magician."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Become the apprentice of the Black Magician, and you'll never have to worry about dieing, losing a battle, or anything like that." the smirk widened, "You'll be invincible."

I opened my mouth to speak, but then I heard footsteps and voices outside of the door. And then...

_Bam._

"Holly shit!" one called.

"Oh my god!" called another.

"Call for back up!"

But I wasn't listening. I was paying attention to the power folwing into my body, and the misty words flowing around my head. Level up.

"Wait are those more bodies?"

"Are these the people who sent out the message for backup?"

"Yes they are. The call was from number eighty nine. These people are number eighty nine and ninety. The murderer they spoke of is no where in sight. He could be anywhere by now, and they also didn't give us a single detail as to what he looked like."

Well, the conversation I was having would have to wait til later. Right now, I had something far more important to do.

I walked to the door, slipping the owl into my pocket, and slowly opened it, stopping when I had just enough room to slip out. I could have teleported, but teleporting gives off a small flash of light. With these people alert, they would, without a doubt, catch me. More like kill me.

I walked into the hall, and put on a show.

"What?" I asked nobody, looking down at the bodies. The guards spun around, holding up their guns immediately, fingers on the trigger. "Who did this?"

They looked at one another before lowering their guns slightly. "Number and ranking." one asked.

"Number: Six hundred and sixty six. Ranking: One seventy nine." I answered, lying about my ranking, summoning my staff in the process, my voice rising in false anger, "Now answer my question! All I hear is a loud boom, I come out here... and there's bodies everywhere! _Who did this?_"

"Relax kid, we don't know." he said. "They called for backup. Whoever they needed backup for made sure that they were taken care of before the backup got here."

I lowered my staff, and looked at the bodies, my forehead creasing. "This... I can only think of two possibilities right now." I explained, "One: There's a traitor here. Two: Someone from the other side's here."

"You're right kid." he said. "Better keep your guard up."

"Right."

"Look, I'll go get master Grandle, and then we'll sort this all out." he said, turning to leave.

"No." I said, causing him to stop in his tracks. "I'll teleport there, it'll be faster. You keep an eye out for this killer."

He did a quick one eighty, looked to his troops who nodded to him, and then nodded to me. "Sure thing, kid, whatever gets this situation cleared out faster."

I nodded back to him and then, in one quick flash, I was gone.

A/n- a longer chapter. You're all leaping for joy! Well, enjoy, point out mistakes, all that good stuff. Review. REVIEW. You must. Point out mistakes...


	4. The Real Chapter 4

Finally. The time has come, the time when my dreams come true. It's been long, the waiting, the fighting, the everything, but now... oh, now, everything will come to an end and begin again. The next step in my plan is almost complete, and when it is, there's no stopping my dream from become a sickening reality. It's time. It's finally the time.

"And where do you think you're going?" asked the owl, still hidden in my pocket. I whipped it out.

"Where do you think?" I asked, "Exactly where I told them I was going. To get Grendel."

"You're actually going to help them solve the case?" it asked, "Grendel will find out it's you for sure."

"Not before I'm gone and my plan is complete." I said, a small smirk reaching up to my lips. The owls head turned, but stood still otherwise, trying to figure out what my plan was.

I was only a few steps away from the door to where Grendel was staying, and had been staying ever since Elenia was set on fire and his old home was destroyed. I hastily walked up to the double door, and knocked.

_Knock..._

_Knock..._

_Knock..._

Each one resonated through me as if I was a bell being struck by a metal poll. The sound shook me to my soul, knowing that this was the beginning of something much greater.

"Enter." that familiar old, creaky, dead sounding voice said.

I pushed the door in just enough so that I could slip through and then closed it once I was in. I put a look of emergency on my face.

"Grendel!" I said, panic in my tone, "There been a murder... two murders... I'm not sure how many murders! And the murderer is no where in sight! We need you help as soon as you can give it."

His white eyebrows raised as he began to stand. "A murder? There hasn't been a murder _here_ in years..."

"Yes, Grendel, I know, but someone somehow was able to take down two high ranked soldiers." I informed him, "A rank eighty nine and ninety. That's all we've found out so far."

I watched as he began to walk towards the door. "Come." he said. I obediently followed him.

"Nothing else is known about these soldiers?" Grendel asked.

"No sir!" the leader of the troop answered. They were all lined up neatly and saluting Grendel as if he was the ruler of the world. How sickening.

Grendel turned away from the troops and knelled beside the dead bodies.

"Grendel... if you want... I can go get more backup. Perhaps a filer... to at least tell the family from which they came the news..." I said, breaking the silence that had rose.

He looked slowly to me and then nodded, old head drawing out the movement as much a possible, making me hold my breath. "Very well. That's only fair to the family."

I nodded to him and then began to walk down the hallway, towards the filers office. Once I was far enough away that Grendel wouldn't feel the mana I expelled, I teleported to Grendel's home.

He was such a fool. He never leaves his house... only for emergencies... and now, he's gone and I'm here... it's so perfect.

The book was right on the rocking chair, which saved me a lot of time. I teleported to the chair in an instant and picked up the book. I looked at it: it's cloth cover golden, the letters on it even more so, shinning as if real gold, making the cloth look like a dull yellow in comparison. I opened it up, my eyes skimming along the brilliant words, the words that only one other person had ever gotten to see.

The skills were strange, and quite gruesome. I didn't mind. One that caught my eye was Impalement. I read it.

"To impale your target with many solid, five by five inch pieces of mana. In order to use this skill you must focus a great amount of energy into a certain place, and then compact it. The more you focus, you more mana you'll be able to release, and the more times you will be able to impale the victim..."

I continued to read, my eyes skimming over the perfect cursive as fast as they could manage. I was cut short, though, as my brain screamed at me: "Danger!"

I looked up, sensing it coming from above me, and jumped out of the way just fast enough to avoid getting smashed by a large piece of wood. Before me stood a large, chunky monster, made completely of processed wood. On the floor, I saw the cushion that had once sat on Grandles chair. When I looked back to the monster, I noticed a charm on it, right in the middle.

Where have I seen that charm before? Those markings...

I remember... when I had tired to steal the Bishops book...

_On the chair was a charm. The lonely old man charmed it..._

Oh. He charmed it alright. It was just a much more powerful charm than I had thought.

I jumped to the right, dodging another hit from the chair... monster... but just barely. How do you kill a monster that's not really alive?

I thought hard, and the answer came to me almost instantly. You take away whatever is making it kill _able_. In this case... that's the charm.

I jumped quickly, soaring through the air, and using the tip of my pointy staff, stabbed the charm. The thing froze for a moment before I flung my arm down, tearing the charm in half. I fell and landed on the floor right in front of the monster that was no longer moving. It only took a few more seconds until it exploded, sending little splinters of wood everywhere, causing me to shield my eyes. Once it was all done, all that remained was a rocking chair on it's side, a stab and a slash mark in the very middle of the backrest. I huffed. Was this the best Grendel could do? How... how pathetic.

I heard footsteps outside the door, running footsteps. I knew who it was, obviously Grendel had found out who killed those people, and sent the guards here, having figured out my plan but probably thinking that I wasn't going to finish off his _rocking_ _chair_ as fast as I had. Won't he get a surprise when the poor soldiers come back saying: "Master Grendel! He got away!" with shame fulling their words. The last thing I heard from that room was the doors opening before I left in a flash... quite literally.

***0o0o***

"So now what?" That _god damned owl_ asked me for the _millionth_ time, wings spread open in exaggeration as it sat perched atop of the second largest rock inside of the damp cave we ended up in, while the largest rock was being occupied by me.

"I've told you," I answered while flipping the page of my newly stolen job advancement, "I study the book. Really, if you're just going to bother me, then why don't you just go an do something else?"

The owls eyes severed. "You're kidding me, right?"

I turned away from my book to face the owl, my eyebrows raised. "What do you think I am kidding about?"

"You keep answering me saying that you're going to read that book. Haven't I told you before that you can't become the strongest that way? Don't you want to be the strongest?"

I blinked at it before laughing a bit, throwing my head back. The owls beak opened as if representing a quick jaw drop, but yet it seemed to have nothing to say at my actions. It was truly a child of a bird. Didn't it understand my REAL intentions yet?

"You don't understand!" I said, still laughing a bit in between sentences, "I will become the strongest, but on my own! What's the point in someone _else_ leading you the way _they_ learned? You'll just end up as a copy of that person. So, in reality, you'll never be the strongest because you'll be just as strong as that person was. Do you understand yet?"

"No." it answered, and out of the corner of my eyes I thought I had seen his eyes cross in confusion. "Why _not_ be taught the same way? That way you'll become just as powerful as that person. And if you're just as powerful, then when that person dies, you'll then take his place. So, in the end, aren't you the truly powerful one?"

"Not at all." I said, looking down at my feet as I crossed my legs, back hunching a bit. "You must not be very old, or you must not be very wise. If I do what you're suggesting, then I'd have to find someone who's just as powerful as Grendel, have them teach me the true power that's been hidden away from the public, and then wait for them to die. By then, Grendel will be probably dead, and I'll have aged a lot. That ruins my plans in more than one way."

The owls face scrunched a little. "What the heck is you're goal? It seems to keep changing to me. I _thought_ it was to become the most powerful magician to have even lived!"

"Oh, that's my life goal." I said, now understanding his confusion. "I do want to become the worlds most powerful magician, but I have other goals first. First, I'm going to kill Grendel using my own hands for revenge. Then I'm going to become the worlds most powerful magician."

The owl stared blankly before realizing that it was going to have to think things through a little bit more now, knowing my true intentions. It lowered it's head slightly before it somehow managed snapping it's fake feathers together and jumped up.

"Oh, oh! How about you have the Dark Lord teach you to the point where you know how to kill Grendel! By the time you kill him, you will have already reached the Dark Lords standards. You could train a little bit harder and kill the Dark Lord himself later! Then you'll have had your revenge, and you'll have eliminated the strongest magician in the world, otherwise you. All you're goals are completed."

My eyes opened a little wider. You know, for something that was thought up over the time period of a minute, it was a good plan. With a little spit and shine added to it, we could have something really going here. My eyes lowered from my book to look into the owls eyes.

"I... don't know."

"Trust me!" it insisted, leaning forward, hands ground into tight fists of excitement, "We can make it work! I'd bet that, if you really wanted it, within a year we could have you the strongest magician in the world, _with_ you're revenge accomplished!"

I placed my fingertips in my chin. "I'm still not so sure..."

"What's not you be sure about?" it asked, "You'd get everything you wanted. Where's the wrong in that?"

I looked down at the bird once more, my eyes filled with fire. It could work. It... really could.

"Very well..." I said, fading out a little to much at the end, making myself sound unsure, "But I read the book first, and learn the skills. Then we go to the Dark Lord."

The owl sighed, displeased that I still insisted on reading that book, but at the same time pleased that I had agreed.

"Sure." it said, beak curved up at the ends into what resembled a smile, "Book first, mastering the arts of a magician with the experience of a real master later. Whatever you want."

I looked away from my book a final time and actually gave the owl a genuine smile.

***0o0o***

It took four months. Four months! No, that's not bad, that's record time for me completing anything so big. Normally it took at _least_ a year. Maybe two years. But _four_ months? And on the hardest class, one that's never been discovered? I was amazed at myself. Maybe I was really one of the most brilliant magicians of all time... maybe there really was no one better than me. I was the only one who could learn this so fast. There must be something wrong with me. Something _is_ wrong here... it shouldn't have been learned so easily... what's going on...?

"Okay, read it one more time, okay?" I asked, staff in hands and ready to kill a pig. It was just practice, and it would be a waste to practice on anything bigger. We don't have unlimited resources, you know.

We were in the middle of a clearing that I had made one day just for practice. All you needed to do was capture a few pigs and you're set for a while will training. The owls eye rose in doubt as it sat on a rock, the job advancement book set open right in front of it, perfect for reading. "Again? This is the fiftieth time you've used this same move. I think you have it down."

"No! I have to make sure. I learned every move so fast, and now I'm sure there's some move that I surpassed something, or... or I'm doing something wrong!" I said. Yes, I was panicking a little. I didn't trust that I was doing everything right. I was missing something... something that was important.

"Look, I'm not reading it again! You've got this move down! I don't know what you're so hyped up about! So, you learned everything a little faster than usual. That doesn't mean you did something wrong."

"But I might have." I protested. "And I've got to make sure everything is perfect. Everything... or else..."

I turned towards the pig, all tied up and ready for slaughtering. Poor thing, didn't even know what was going to happen to it.

"Fine." I said, walking over to the book and grabbing it, "I'll do it myself."

I walked back to where I was standing and read over the page again, the skill memorized and therefore replaying in my head as my eyes skimmed the words.

_Explosion._

_ In order to make you target explode, quickly release a large amount of mana in a small amount of space (Ex: Releasing 670 strihes through the space of a needle.) work on compressing the mana, and send it through the targets skin while still compressing it. Once inside the target, decompress the mana. This will cause the mana to expand rapidly, causing the target to 'explode' or have an exploding effect..._

There was more to it, like the stance that you should make, and the best places to insert the mana to get the best results, but I had it all memorized. Nothing new.

I did exactly what it asked. I compressed the mana into the thinness of a needle, and sent it flying into the pigs head. I turned as I decompressed the mana, to avoid getting blood on my face as the pig was sent everywhere. Quite a gruesome attack, that is.

I turned around only to see that the same thing had happened to this pig that had happened to the other pigs. It exploded. Exactly what it was supposed to do... but that meant I wasn't doing anything wrong. Then why the hell did it take such a short time to learn these moves? This was the last move in the book...

I fell to my knees. I had been thinking about it, but really never thought about it enough, I never wanted it to be true, I guess, but now I realize. No wonder why Grendel put up such a lousy fight with his chair and did such a horrible job in finding me.

He wanted me to get away. He wanted me to take the book. It's really the only explanation.

"These moves..." I said on my knees, "They're not advanced. Sure, they're new moves, but they're nothing as deadly as they should be. Gruesome, but not deadly."

The owl looked down at me. "What are you talking about?" it asked.

"Don't you get it?" I growled, "I was tricked. These aren't the fifth job advancement moves, they can't be. A person in the third job advancement could learn these moves with great ease. They all only kill one monster at a time and use up to much mana. These aren't to moves of a true master. They're the moves of a true master _in-training, _which is what I was _last_ job advancement. No wonder why he did such a horrible job in everything he did when it came to that day: it's for a reason. He made two books, one the real one, one a fake."

The owls eyes were wide with disbelief. "You're kidding me! How... how could you possibly know that?"

I looked it in the painted on eyes. "One day, back when I was at the third job advancement, stealing my fourth job book, I had seen the real one, the one with the real moves. I know this is a fake because that one had a move called 'Impalement' in it, which was a deadly move that allowed you to impale multiple victims on mana rods. This book doesn't have that. That book looked the exact same, even smelled the exact same, but it hasn't been until now that I see the difference between the books."

The owl was now starting to see how much thought I had put into this. It was a lot of though, for sure, and a lot for it to take in. "What... what's the difference?"

I smiled a smile that mocked myself. "Grendel was actually guarding the real one, even hiding himself from my mana using his own to cloud his existence. Grendel put an easy give away for the fake, with his easily leaving his home, pretending to be oblivious, and I do believe taking the time to put the book on the chair once he had gotten up." I said, remembering out of the corner of my eyes back then, having seen him move his hand a little bit and place something on his chair. I think that I had thought he was fixing the chair cushion at that point in time. "I can't even think about why I hadn't stopped to think about why it was so easy. Even the chair was easy to take down, sure I wasn't expecting it, but it was just enough guarding the book where I wasn't curious as to why there was so little protection. I think it was all just a set up that would keep me from getting his _real_ book."

The owls eyes were wide, completely taken away by shock. "You... really think so?" it asked.

"Oh... by now, I'm pretty sure I know so."

The owl obviously didn't know what to say for a while. Eventually he did speak up. "In that case, he's probably going to start hunting you down soon. All the better reason for you to go the the Dark Lord and become a master."

"Yes..." I said, admitting that it was a good idea for once in a while. "Perhaps you're right."

"We should move soon..." it said while it muttered something about 'what a waste of four months' under his breath.

Yeah, it was a waste. Yea, I was a fool, and it took me all that time realize it. But at least now I have even more of a reason to kill the old man. He killed my dad, he crushed my dreams, and now he even deceived me.

He's going to die a horrible... horrible death.

A/n- Okay, I got the real chapter up. I'm really sort of thinking about discontinuing this story. Only two people that I know of are following it, and no offense to those people, but two's not enough motivation for me : /

Really, if you're following this story, TELL ME so that I know I'm not typing to thin air please?

So... point out mistakes, and stuff, I'm on my way to fixing all those times I've said "GRANDLE" back to "GRENDEL", which is the correct spelling for it. Really, thanks to all my reviews... you guys are awesome.


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